Upon being thankful...

Looking back over this month, I have had so many reasons to give extra thanks to the Lord. An unexpected financial blessing, an unexpected trip to the emergency room that ended up in praying for three people that got healing & blessing from the Lord through us, ( I suspect the Lord setting these three up for us to minister to because the emergency turned out not to be.) a trip to see children & grandchildren that I hadn't seen for awhile, in honor of my 70th birthday, in which I was 'Queen' for several days & on coming back home, family here had a birthday party for me & the blessings were also fun & unexpected, pizza, lasagna, pineapple upside down cake, Mexican food, all birthday menus,  & then the wonderful, traditional Thanksgiving fare.

& then there's the leftovers for turkey sandwiches, dressing & gravy & a 'day after' slice of pumpkin pie with homemade whipped cream on top. Man! That's why I love to fix the Thanksgiving dinner! The dinner that keeps on giving, even when you send leftovers home with guests! & in the song by Irving Berlin,

"I've got plenty to be thankful for..."

I have to respond with a resounding,

YES!

When our kids were growing up, just before they went to sleep at night I would have them say three things that they were thankful for during the day, & then we would sing the little song, 

"Thankyou, thankyou Jesus, thankyou, thankyou...𝅘𝅥𝅱𝅘𝅥𝅱"

I wanted the expressing of thanks to be the last words they spoke before they went to sleep, even as teenagers. I still do this at times. It's very conducive for a quieting sleep because how can all the 'little foxes' of negative thinking come in when we fall asleep giving thanks?

This is more important than we know. Giving thanks gives us clear perspective because our thought processes are not tainted  with thoughts of fear, anxiety, selfishness, worry, doubt, & hopelessness. Instead, our very thoughts are turned to hope & even more, peace-giving contentment. Wouldn't you love to live a consistent life of contentment? Doesn't it make you feel like you can breathe peace? Inhale, exhale, ahhhhhh. & don't you love being around people who exude thankfulness, hope, joy & contentment? Kind of rubs off on you doesn't it? Just being in their presence is life giving. We all need to practice this kind of thanks-living. 

"...the man who forgets to be thankful, has fallen asleep in life."

Robert Louis Stevenson

"If you want to turn your life around, try thankfulness. It will change your life mightily."

Gerald Good

"The heart that gives thanks is a happy one, for we cannot feel thankful & unhappy at the same time."

Douglas Wood

"...the thankful heart will find, in every hour, some heavenly blessings."

Henry Ward Beecher

"I never met a thankful person who was bitter or a bitter person who was thankful."

Nick Vujicic

"O give thanks to the Lord, for He is good & His mercy endures forever." (this is one of my life scriptures. Sometimes I shout it as loud as I can!)

Psalm 107:1

"Enter into His presence with thanksgiving & into His courts with praise. Be thankful to Him & bless His name, for the Lord is good, His mercy is everlasting & His truth endures FOREVER."

Psalm 100 4 & 5

🙌🙌🙌🙌🙌🙌🙌🙌🙌🙌

There is nothing really profound in what I have  been saying here, but when incorporated into our lives, giving thanks can make a profound difference in us, spirit, soul, & body, even our health, setting into motion in ourselves & our world, LIFE, truly  making an eternal difference,  making our 'footprint' that we leave behind when we go home to Jesus. & it is so freeing & at the risk of being redundant, so life giving.

I'm going to retell a story that I heard once of the devil talking to a man about the many ways he had of causing mankind to stumble or fall. Suddenly, the devil's countenance fell as he confessed, "there's only one kind of human that I cannot affect & that is the one who has a grateful heart."

Whoa. Powerful. Think of that. & it's within our grasp. Profundity at it's simplest.

"For a thankful heart is a happy heart...🎜"

(from 'Madame Blueberry' of Veggietales fame)

& we can start living a life of consistently giving thanks anytime we want to. Even today. Even now. Go ahead. 

Make His day. By giving thanks.

 

Raintree Perk of the Day:

The above. 😊